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ost123411 t1_j248duf wrote

Reply to comment by Earthguy69 in TIL of Dick Roth, a swimmer who was diagnosed with appendicitis shortly before the men’s 400m individual medley in the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games. He refused an immediate operation and instead swam in the finals, winning a gold medal. by alexjpg

I don't think the concern with doing a single xray for possible appendicitis is radiation exposure..

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Earthguy69 t1_j25a0f0 wrote

It certainly is. You are doing a CT scan. 1/200 statistically get a cancer later in life that can be attributed to the scan.

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ksdkjlf t1_j25d9u5 wrote

You're off by an order of magnitude. Per the FDA:

"A CT examination with an effective dose of 10 millisieverts [an abdominal CT averages 8] [...] may be associated with an increase in the possibility of fatal cancer of approximately 1 chance in 2000. This increase in the possibility of a fatal cancer from radiation can be compared to the natural incidence of fatal cancer in the U.S. population, about 1 chance in 5 (equal to 400 chances in 2000). [...] If you combine the natural risk of a fatal cancer and the estimated risk from a 10 mSv CT scan, the total risk may increase from 400 chances in 2000 to 401 chances in 2000."

400 in 2000 to 401 in 2000 is a change of 20% to 20.05%.

One abdominal CT is not "lots of harmful radiation".

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ost123411 t1_j2932xo wrote

Much higher chance of dying during appendectomy than developing cancer from a single CT scan

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Earthguy69 t1_j2978ji wrote

Not at all. You have a higher risk of dying driving to the hospital than doing the surgery

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ost123411 t1_j297gkm wrote

You are drastically overestimating the level of risk involved with a single CT scan

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